First up, I can tell you right now, despite my criticisms the general idea of NaNoWriMo is sound. I officially started MOCKINGBIRD at the front of October and I am now 60,000 words deep — and I’ve still got a week left in the month. Further, I don’t really write much on weekends. So, like I said: doable. That being said, it’s maybe kinda sorta important to note that writing is my job. Like, my full-time I-spend-all-my-hours-bleeding-imagination-juice-on-the-page job.
(Also worth the reference: I dunno if you saw, but the Mighty Matt Forbeck is doing his “12-for-12” project, meaning, 12 novels in 12 months. An impressive and, even for me, mind-boggling endeavor.)
Whatever the case, National Novel Writing Month is nearly upon us, a great heaving swarm of hungry writers getting ready to attack their stories with rabid creativity and wanton penmonkey lunacy.
So, the questions I have are these:
Who out there is doing NaNoWriMo this year?
Who’s done it before?
How did you prepare for it, and what happened to those novels that you completed?
What were your experiences?
What are your thoughts?
Any wisdom to pass down to future participants?
Like it? Love it? Hate it?
Discuss.
(Oh, and as a generally shameless point-of-pimpage, I should advise you that the current Penmonkey Promotion — wherein you buy one of the PENMONKEY books and get 250 THING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WRITING — ends at the close of October. Details here.)
Folly Blaine says:
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year. I tried once before and didn’t succeed, but this time I plan to change that. For the last six months I’ve been writing and submitting short stories to markets, which means writing every day. (Three stories have been published.) I’ve been participating in local writing/critique groups so I can get better at identifying problems in my own work. I also joined a group that just sits around and writes together once a week. And I’m taking a novel writing class every Saturday for eight weeks. I even have a story idea this time and a vague idea what happens…
Of course I also read Revenge of the Penmonkey for reference on the writing life. Really enjoyed it. (Reviewed the first 17% on my blog.)
But then all that means nothing if I don’t sit my butt down and work. And maybe sacrifice a chicken.
October 26, 2011 — 10:17 AM
Lesann says:
I’m in. This is my second tour of duty. Last year I wrote a respectable 90K first draft that is almost ready to start making the submission rounds. This year I’ve got a rough outline of a second in the series and hope to bring it out of the printer by the end of the month. When I first heard about Nanowrimo I thought “whoa, that’s a lot of words in a short time” but really it’s significantly easier than childbirth.
Y’all should try it!
October 26, 2011 — 10:36 AM
lancelot says:
I think NNWM definitely illustrates how much discipline this stuff takes, definitely gets unmotivated people initially motivated on their first, and helps us focus on getting the first draft down.
That’s all assuming we’re ready to throw away the first novel, the first draft of later novels, and to continue that discipline out into the rest of the year.
October 26, 2011 — 10:51 AM
Jennifer r. Donohue says:
I’m doing it this year! I love NaNoWriMo
I’ve done it since 2007. Last year is the only one, thus far, that I’ve failed to reach 50k.
My NaNo’s have been largely solo. I know a few other people in person who “dabble” in writing, but nobody who’s been honestly willing to be my NaNo buddy and go whole hog; there were always “well, maybe I’ll do this” or “maybe I can…” qualifiers. I guess that 50k is more intimidating than some of us think!
October 26, 2011 — 10:54 AM
Cheney says:
This will be my sixth attempt at NaNo and hopefully my third win – I only finished two out of five times I tried, which I am not very proud of. Every time in the past I just flew by the seat of my pants, but this time I have been working on a very detailed outline and the only thing I am leaving open is the ending, and I am doing that on purpose because I still want a real challenge – plus, I have no idea what the ending is yet.
All but one of the previous NaNo attempts were junked, but the one I ‘won’ two years ago I am still working on. I got past 50K words but the story wasn’t finished, so I am slowly but surely working on finishing it and making it the best it can be – it’s still the piece of writing I am most proud of, and I think it deserves time and space to grow, strange as it may sound.
October 26, 2011 — 10:55 AM
Todd says:
I did NaNo last year for the first time and “won”. I thought I might write a novella, but when I hit 50k I only had about half the story done. I stopped there to finish my current WIP and plan to go back and finish that story at some point. I’m actually thinking of using that kernel for a start on my MFA thesis novel. Time will tell.
I’m planning on doing NaNo this year, but last year was eye-opening. I really struggled some weeks, but came on strong at the end. I’ve learned that I can write more and better as my word count has increased, but my wife was not pleased with the amount of time it required of me. I think I can manage the time better this iteration, but I have a lot on my plate already.
I found Nano to be rewarding and it taught me the value of writing everyday. I got out of it exactly what I was hoping for, which was a more habitual writing practice. This time it would just be a leg up on another novel kernel. I’m trying my hand at a YA novel relating to my WIP, which is entering final phases of the revision.
Good luck to all of you!
October 26, 2011 — 10:57 AM
Chad Kallauner says:
As I told someone on Twitter yesterday: I’m too sexy for NaNoWriMo.
I participated last year for the first time and didn’t reach my 50,000 limit until the end of December. (FAIL!)
I eventually finished and pitched that novel to an agent this past March at a conference. She loved the pitch, but the novel wasn’t quite what she was expecting. She did give me lots of feedback on how to make it more “marketable,” though. However, something in my gut told me that it wasn’t the right time for me to carry on with that project.
I have since begun a novel that, um, “fits” me better: a dark, serious YA-ish tale. I am 5,000 words in, but I still have some fleshing out to do as far as the overall arc of the story and so forth.
I will go at my own steady pace during NaNoWriMo and benefit from the enthusiasm and encouragement of other writers during that time (i.e. be a user [loser?])
October 26, 2011 — 11:07 AM
Aiwevanya says:
Have done NaNo for the last two years and won both times, but the first time was more satisfying because back then I didn’t know if I could actually do it (even though the second win was definitely the more coherent one). So this year I’m upping the ante again and trying to both edit a half finished draft into coherency and write a new first draft as well… so I’m trying for 100k this November, I think I can pull that off, but the exciting part is I’m not sure… well to me more precise I’m mentally going ‘Eeep what are you doing you crazy bint? you know you’ve never managed more than 2800 words in a day and you’re going to have to average over that for a whole month, this is a stupid plan’, but so what, you don’t know whether you fly until you jump off the cliff – that’s the feeling I was missing last year and I want it back, hence new and higher personal target.
October 26, 2011 — 11:12 AM
Shullamuth Smith says:
This will be my first NaNo. I’ve written 10,000 words a week before. Most of them were bad and are currently being rewritten in the second draft of novel two. However, I’m taking Chick’s advice and outlining this month to help prepare for next month. I’m excited to have a good excuse to cheat with this new project.
October 26, 2011 — 11:31 AM
Todd says:
We had a gal in my region that wrote almsot 300k words in the 30 days. It had to be crap, but even so that’s impressive. As far as advice Larry Brooks does a series on NaNo prep over at his award winning writer’s blog Storyfix.com
Kristen Lamb is also doing a series on prep at her blog warriorwriters.wordpress.com
October 26, 2011 — 11:44 AM
Casz Brewster says:
This will be my sixth NaNoWriMo. It will be my third as a municipal liaison (snoqualmie valley region- shout out! whoop whoop!). My first with a Co-M/L.
Right now (like right this virtual instant) I am doing character sketches and outlines this year to prepare, and much more detailed than ever before, without getting all anal. The month is about letting your creativity flow.
Of the manuscripts I completed, I am currently seeking representation for the one written in 2008. It has been revised and edited multiple times. I just need someone to love it as much as I do. My mss. finished in 2006 I may self-publish next summer. 2010’s mss is a sequel to 2008’s and this year will be a third in what is now a series. YA Urban Fantasy.
I love the NaNo experience. All of a sudden I have hundreds, if not thousands, of people all trying to do what I normally do — write. Some have seen the light that it ain’t the easiest job in the world and that we all can’t be pantsless and downing whiskey slurpees while “bleeding imagination juice on the page.” It has helped me create a community of literary artists here in my community, so I have a slight hard-on for NaNoWriMo.
Much like any writing life advice — you need to frakkin write. Meet your word count goal every day and maybe a little extra. Stock up now meals in the freezer if you’re in charge of feeding youngin’s and such. Forget the housework. Some days forget hygiene — hey, it’s only a month. Get out to write-ins and see your fellow NaNo’rs. Do a word war online if it’s the day you skipped showering.
At the end, party like a rock star and know you finished at least one goddamn thing in your life. Edit in January. Try to pitch the damn thing by June. Okay the last two are just bonus.
Each year you learn more and more about yourself as a writer, the creativity process and just how crazy the writing life is.
BTFO!
October 26, 2011 — 11:48 AM
RelentlessMuse says:
-I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year (as an ML).
-I’ve done NaNo three years before, and won all three times.
–2008: 50k at 11pm on Nov 30th. No planning. I’ve worked on some revisions, but nothing big yet. Full time university student, part time restaurant worker.
–2009: 50k at 7pm on Nov 30th. No planning. I’ve turned this one into a screenplay and am trying to sell it. Full time university student, part time restaurant worker.
–2010: 68k. Did some planning. Was hit by a car Nov 1st (yay crutches) and got food poisoning in the last week, so I couldn’t write at all without turning green. Full time university student, part time tutor, part time bartender. Working on ironing out plot issues for a rewrite soon.
-I love NaNo. It has helped me actually get out rough drafts, which had taken me FOREVER before. The collective pressure is right up my alley, especially with how competitive I am. Right now I am working on revisions for publication for my first novel, which I plan on continuing through the month; as soon as I hit my daily word quota for NaNo, I’m switching projects (which won’t be counted towards my final wordcount).
-Write Ins are something I do outside of NaNo now, because meeting up with other writers to get stuff done really helps. I feel like an ass if there are three other people pounding out words on their keyboards and I’m playing a game online, so it kicks me into gear and cuts out a lot of procrastination. Write-ins come highly recommended. I plan on hosting lots of them over the month.
October 26, 2011 — 11:55 AM
Stephanie M. Lorée says:
This will be my fourth time doing NaNo. I have succeeded two times, but not my first entrance in 2008. Biggest lesson? Use October to prep and outline, NaNo to crank out some words, December to finish the draft, and the rest of the year to edit the crap out of it. If you don’t prep, you’re going to spend a ton extra time editing, and you will likely find yourself falling off the wagon mid-Novermber when you don’t know where to go next.
I like NaNo. It’s a good community incentive, and it’s fun. I don’t understand people who hate on it. Really, if it’s not for you, simply ignore it. There are far more important things in the world to get your hate on about, NaNo should be the least of your worries.
Or, simply: Haters gonna hate.
October 26, 2011 — 12:49 PM
Hannah says:
I shall give it a bash this year though I don’t expect I’ll be able to hit my full 50k with a move coming and a book blog to keep afloat and all those pesky lifey things like sleeping and showering, but there’s no reason I shouldn’t try my hardest with the time I do have. I gave it a go last year for the first time and managed 40k words with a half-arsed idea.
This year, I have an idea that I’d eventually like to publish so I believe that even if I don’t “win”, I’ll still make a good start on a damn useful piece of writing. Last year’s novel was a bunch of crap but I’m reusing a character and a vague idea from the beginning for this year’s so I guess it wasn’t all bad.
The advice I give to everybody who I’ve spoken to is just: do your best. 50,000 is how much you’re “supposed” to write, but even if you don’t manage to hit that it doesn’t mean you’ve somehow failed. You’ve still written more than you might otherwise have and heck you’ve probably got involved with an awesome community in the meantime! I love the NaNo community and that is what always draws me to it, not the writing. Writing I can do anytime. The buzz and community is one month a year. Do your best, have fun, and don’t let yourself get too stressed!
October 26, 2011 — 1:05 PM
Mark Horejsi says:
This will be my seventh year doing NaNo, and hypothetically my fifth time winning. It’s the first year I’ve done any kind of planning, and I’m also trying to finish by the 15th, so I can win (ring the bell) at the Night of Writing Dangerously in San Francisco, which is the Office of Letters and Light’s big fundraiser that I’ll be attending.
NaNo is a great writing exercise, but honestly, these days it’s as much a social activity as anything. I met my girlfriend there, almost three years ago, and much of my regular circle of friends has been drawn in, in addition to the people I’ve met there. I am trying to forge a writing group out of this maddening chaos; good luck to me.
October 26, 2011 — 1:12 PM
Ted says:
Who out there is doing NaNoWriMo this year? I will not be doing NaNo this year. I am going to finish the story I started last year.
How did you prepare for it, and what happened to those novels that you completed? I read an excellent series of articles on Tami Moore’s blog (http://www.tavenmoore.com). The novel needs an editing pass and then I’m going to foyster it onto some friends for feedback.
What were your experiences? It was a really good experience. I learned just how much can get in the way of my writing and I had to make some hard decisions about what came first.
What are your thoughts? I didn’t actually ‘win’ NaNo last year. I only got about 30k words done, but I kept going. NaNo isn’t so much about winning but discovering if this writing gig is for you.
Any wisdom to pass down to future participants? I recommend doing it. Try to have a plan for your story when you start and whatever happens, don’t quit.
October 26, 2011 — 1:13 PM
yojimbojapan says:
I tried the nano last year. Made it about a week. Still chipping away what came from that experience in what moments I allow writing to steal from my time.
Going to try again this year but I’m not looking to write a novel. I’m just not sure I have one in me, always been better at short stories and the like.
So for me it’s National Novella Writing Month. Got a quirky little plot outline as well. 3 Acts -> 3 Sequences per Act -> 3 scenes per Sequence. Like a Pyramid Scheme. Figures out to be about 1850 words per scene to reach the goal.
Hope I can manage it without falling into the purple prose purgatory but I’m in it this year more for the discipline training and practice with arc structures.
October 26, 2011 — 1:18 PM
Joe Köller says:
I’ll be taking part this year, for the first time ever. Considering I also got college and other web projects to worry about, not to mention the fact that I have close to no experience writing fiction, I’ll probably fall quite short of 50.000 words, but I reckon if the experience forces me to write without censoring, second thoughts and doubts about quality, it’s worth the effort. Even if I only produce some shoddily written 2.500 words, even if my novel ends shrivelling in comparison to depraved My Little Pony fanfiction.
In short, I’m not prepared, at all. Hopefully I’ll still be able to take something away from it.
I’ve dealt this in more detail on my own site: http://bit.ly/umtvqp (shameless plug)
October 26, 2011 — 1:22 PM
Rich Magahiz says:
I’ll be doing this too, for the first time. I’ve got a binder with a bunch of story ideas, many of which have already been discarded over the last few weeks. The one thing I have succeeded in accomplishing as NaNo preparation is clearing the decks for the challenge, so barring a run-in with the cold virus or a bad batch of inclement weather, I am optimistic that I’ll make it by the month’s end.
October 26, 2011 — 1:22 PM
Kate Arms-Roberts says:
I’m going to be a NaNo Rebel this year in that I am going to be writing vignettes of backstory and world-building for a fantasy that has been in my mind for a few years now.
I’m going to be leading my kids in an old school NaN Young Writers Program, so I had better keep my word count up.
October 26, 2011 — 1:41 PM
Addley says:
Doing it this year, and I’ve done it twice before now. I’m a plotter, so I tend to do some character bios and at least a few chapters of outlining in the days leading up to November 1st, to give me something to start with.
Of the two years I’ve done it, I completed on 50,000-word first draft my first year, added an extra 30,000 words to it in December, and spent a year editing it before submitting it to agents. After a bit of feedback and lots of rejections, I decided to shelve it to focus on other things.
Last year, I got 35,000 words into the book before abandoning it because I hated everything about it – its terrible pacing, its horrible characters, its hackneyed writing, all of it. I then spent the rest of November plotting a different book, which I wrote over the course of December and Janurary, re-wrote for the rest of the year, and just started querying last month.
Personally, I love NaNo – the support you get as a writer attempting to go pro is a lot of help, and I consider it really good motivation to get at least the first part of a draft done. And after you’ve written 50,000 words, there’s no reason not to finish it. Plus, I think it’s a fun challenge for anyone who just wants to give themselves a goal to meet and enjoy the ride.
October 26, 2011 — 1:43 PM
JM Frey says:
Who out there is doing NaNoWriMo this year?
I am! I am! *raises hand like Hermoine*
Who’s done it before?
Me, me! Since 2003 – and won most of those. But not all. I feel the need to defend myself of course – the years I didn’t win are the years I was also writing thesises. (Is that how you pluralize thesis?)
How did you prepare for it, and what happened to those novels that you completed?
I have, depending on the year: jumped in with no idea of the characters, plot, or story whatsoever until I sit down on November 1st and began writing; meticulously world-and-character-built for months prior; done a vauge outline of where I want to go with the story, ish; and this year, wrote a short story about the characters and decided to write a sequel novel to said short.
What happened to my novels (as far as I can recall. I could be remembering wrong):
2003 – won; put it in my story mourge for later. (Plan to revisit it one day)
2004 – won; revised it for the rest of the year.
2005 – lost; was writing BA thesis
2006 – won; scrapped 04’s novel and used the same idea to write a new one.
2007- lost; wrote a 25k novella that I spent the time editing instead. Later sold it to Silverthought Press, and still later expanded it into a full novel that was published in Apil 2011 by Dragon Moon Press.
2008 – lost; was wrting MA thesis – having meshed 04 & 06’s story, decided to rewrite/plot massive book and spent most of the time editing/writing the novel. Spent rest of year cleaning up/adding to novel. Though I did do 50K worth of work/additions to the novel that November, and then some, novels for NaNo have to be new, and this wasn’t.(Is currently being reviewed by my agent)
2009 – won; resultant novel was worked on for the next few years. Novella will come out from Double Dragon Press in June 2011.
2010 – won; resultant novel was worked on for the next year. LITERALLY. JUST turned the re-re-revisions over to my beta reader yesterday. (Has already been reviewed by my agent)
2011 – hoping to win!; have pitched this novel to my agent and he seems enthusiastic.
What were your experiences?
Overall I’ve found NaNoWriMo very positive. The important part is the writing, and secondarily, the community building and peer support, and the quality of the writing is not as important, to my mind. It is the exercise of writing every day, writing something diligently, and giving myself permission to leap into a world that I have never discovered before. It is wonderful to know that, every year, I get to have one month to flail around in a brand new play place of my own making. Even if that month’s worth of work ends up ultimately being scrapped, it was a chance to let my imagination roam free.
What are your thoughts?
As I said above, I think NaNo is a great celebration of creative excess and giving oneself permission to explore and play in a safe, supportive space. I think it’s a lovely start to a novel. Also, I feel sorry for every agent ever who gets emails on December first that start with, “I just finished my NaNoWriMo book…”
Any wisdom to pass down to future participants?
50K is not a full novel. It is a DAMN good start, but it is not a novel. It is not a novel until it has been edited, polished, revised, beta’d, re-penned, and re-re-re-rewritten. Your NaNo is brain vomit and it needs to be tidied before it can be a novel. And I dont’ say this to be mean – I say this to allow yourself to be a bit crap. Because fearing to write because you’re going to be a bad writer is silly; if you hate everything you put on the page, if your inner editor cringes at each typo, then how will any of it get ONTO the page? Embrace that your NaNo is going to be a bit crap and use that as permission to keep writing. Think: “Oh, well, this scene is a bit crap. But that’s okay, because I can edit later! LATER! For now I will follow my figners and my imagination wherever they shall lead and it will be GLORIOUS.”
Like it? Love it? Hate it?
Love it!
October 26, 2011 — 1:44 PM
Chris Miller says:
I’m in for this year. I’m using the time to finish the novel I’ve had in the works for about five months now…lots of research. Time to get words down.
I’ve participated twice before, finishing each time, and each run through taught me much my personal habits and writing proclivities, both good and ill. . Most of those learning went into the NaNoMonkeys podcast that I, Mur Lafferty, Kris Johnson and P.G. Holyfield put out a few years ago. (Plug: http://www.thesecretlair.com/main/nanomonkeys/)
The main wisdom I can share applied to my first triathlon as well as my first NaNo: The tricks to finishing is patience and not stopping. Keep moving, no matter what, and don’t think about it too hard. This is about endurance, not deep and meaningful reflection on the process. There will be time for that later.
October 26, 2011 — 1:46 PM
Kathlyn Hawley says:
This’ll be my first year doing it and I’m’na have a hard time between work (my job is pretty drun demanding) and taking care of my kitties and wanting time with my hubby.
I gots me an outline started and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m going to try to do something that can be published, just like everyone else, but I’m a realist, I know it’ll probably be something crappy. Doesn’t mean I won’t try!
See, I want to be a full time author. (who doesn’t?) I know I could do it if given the chance, and this is a chance, I suppose. If I can write 50k words in a month while holding down a 40-60 hr work week jorb I gotta be doing something right, right?
So yeah. Going to give it the ol’ attempt.
I don’t have Skyrim though, I got Assassin’s Creed to tempt me away from the key clacking. And oh my gosh I can’t wait for AC:R to come out. Oh man, oh man. I so gotta write like… 5k words a day till it comes out. Drat.
October 26, 2011 — 1:57 PM
Sparky says:
Nano man, let’s go for it!
Third year. Hopefully my second one winning. I have a few fresh challenges but with enough caffeine anything is possible.
I prep with a rough novel outline, a large stack of DVDs, a fresh bottle of vodka and a pack of red bull. The outline should be rather obvious, the DVDs are equal parts inspiration and background noise, the vodka and red bull combine into the perfect mix of “I don’t care if I suck with this passage” and “I am so wired all I can do is write!” Last year I also read No Plot, No Problem and will use many of it’s lessons this year as well.
The one novel I completed so far sits on my shelf as a mark of personal pride. Some editing has been done and will be done but I still need to work on that part of the process.
My experiences have been hard work, frustration, inertia and glorious success. It isn’t always fun but it is fulfilling.
My thoughts: yes it floods the market after November but it is a good idea and means so much to so many. And I like it.
Wisdom for others: chill out about quality, ramp up the word count and use the forums to the best of your ability.
I love Nano
October 26, 2011 — 2:14 PM
D. Ryan Leask says:
NaNoWriMo Virgin.
The extra challenge is having a full-time job, a busy wife, two kids, two dogs and no secured writing spot, thanks to my brother-in-law living in my “study.” However, no excuses! (If I don’t complete my task just assume I broke my thumbs and was too proud to mention it.)
October 26, 2011 — 2:15 PM
K. Gainor says:
This will be my first attempt at NaNoWriMo. My first novel took me 9 months to write, but it was my first, wound up being 112K, was a hell of a learning curve, and was ripe with fears and laziness.
This novel has a bit more fleshed out of an outline, is estimated to be much shorter, and will be met with much more determination than the first.
That being said, a 50+ hour work week, podcasting the first novel, plus speeding through this beast, will add up to one crazy-ass month.
I have devised an actual routine for daily writing (which helped the final 40K of the first book find life in the final 45 days of construction). Couple that with new-found determination and confidence, and I believe I can get a functional rough draft in place by the 30th.
… But we shall see…
October 26, 2011 — 2:36 PM
The Screaming Guppy says:
I’ve done NaNoWriMo twice, but I’m passing this year since I’m neck deep in revisions.
I did my first NaNo in 2008, and what it really taught me was how much I could actually write in a day – valuable stuff! That novel landed me my agent after I did lots of revising (I signed with her in January 2011), and we’re now out on submission.
I did NaNo again last year, mostly for fun. I cheated a little though, and worked on like three different things at once while I was trying to decided on my next project. I think I hit just over 100k in the month, all projects combined. Not sure it counts, exactly, but it was good to flex those writing muscles hardcore.
My advice to anyone doing NaNoWriMo is to embrace and enjoy it – but remember that you don’t need this event in order to be able to write 1,666 words a day. If you’re serious about writing, you need to produce all year round. And you can – after all, you’ve just proven it to yourself, haven’t you?
And don’t send your NaNoWriMo brain dump to agents after you type the end. Revising is as important as writing, and sometimes requires MORE of your time than writing. It can be a bitch, but it’s the truth.
Good luck everyone and have fun!
October 26, 2011 — 2:38 PM
Ren Warom says:
Not doing nano this year as I want to get stuck in to sorting the novel I started during nano last year. It’s a doozy.
– As mentioned I did nano last year, it was my very first year of trying and I won, so that was a bonus – especially as myself and all my spawn decided to get ill in the last week and I had a houseful of miserable-arse phlegm-geysers. I used those first three weeks to get a kickstart on the project I knew I was going to leap into next.
– As prep I had characters, a rough idea of world and not very much else. I wrote 55k of it, which is probably the halfway mark or just under. I’m going to leap into beating it into novelistic disreputability as soon as I’ve finished a story I’m writing for an anthology. I’ll be starting from page one again as I now know what the hell is going on and I want to begin it correctly and move story progression forward as it needs to go. I know, I know, wag those fingers, don’t care – I know how I roll, and this is it. I also edit as I write… *gasp, choke, THUNK*
– My experience? Load of writing buddies. Lots of support and fun. Bit of a word-wrangling hoe-down to be truthful; total insanity, mayhem and blood-letting. I had a blast!
– Nano is terrific for whacking out that first draft, even if you only use it to get a damn good start on the thing as opposed to cracking on through to ‘The End’. Take it in the spirit it’s presented in. Make buddies, be active in the forums, join local groups if you can (I couldn’t but wanted to, the Brum lot are nuts). Most of all, write your tits/bollocks off and have fun with it. Vomit your bloody heart out all over a page and don’t worry about the bits of carrot, the soggy chips and unidentifiable lumps – you can sieve those out later.
I really enjoyed nano and I would do it again in a heartbeat, especially if I had another project I wanted to kickstart. Best thing about it is, it suits everyone – even those manic outliners who need every sentence plotted to the last comma – cos if you do your homework all you have to do is sit down, plug in and let the words roll forth. As long as you understand all you’re doing is knocking out that mass of first draft emesis you’ll be dandy.
Best advice I can offer is: don’t sweat it. If the words won’t come, if they’re all coming wrong, just keep the hell on writing. Do a Catchphrase and ‘say what you see’ – describe your room, your lunch, your best mate, your favourite place to visit, your worst moment of embarrassment… just keep those words flowing and, eventually, the right track will find you. Mostly, just have yourself a damn good time. Writing is heaven and hell combined, the business of creation has a rush all its own. When it’s all going right, there’s nothing comes close to it.
October 26, 2011 — 2:57 PM
Dan says:
This will be my fifth shot at it. Of the earlier four attempts, three reached the 50K mark. Of those three, I carried two of them on to finish the actual story in the 70-90K range. One of those is currently going a final copy-edit pass, and the other one (last year’s) is wrapping up the bloody first-draft edits.
I actually wrote a longer advice piece on this at my own blog this morning, but I’ll pass on 3 pieces of advice here:
* Get ahead of the word count curve and stay ahead.
* Park downhill, i.e. end each writing session by jotting down a note of what happens next. Starting up again will be that much easier.
* Don’t edit as you go. If you do, you’ll never make it out of chapter 1.
Good luck!
October 26, 2011 — 3:18 PM
Sara Anne says:
This will be my second year doing NaNoWriMo. I absolutely spanked it last year – I did 75,000 words. Never mind the fact that I started a novel, then about 11 days and 15,000 words in, I got bored and scrapped it, and started a new one. I did 60,000 words on the second one and went on to finish it (84,000 and change) in December.
I work in retail and all my family lives out of town. Needless to say, November is a hell of a month for me. This year I’ve got two jobs in retail (what am I, nuts? you ask) and family has not moved any closer. I may not hit 75,000 again, but damn it, I will win again.
And it IS a hell of a month. It’s brutal and vicious and great training for anyone who wants to be a writer. There are a lucky few (Chuck Wendig, James Patterson) who can afford to be full-time writers, and there are a ton more who are successful but still haven’t quit their day jobs (Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, Kevin Hearne) and still churn out respectable numbers of books a year. If you want to be a full-time writer, Rob Thurman says, you’ve got to put out two or three books a year to make ends meet. (That is to say, if you’re publishing straight-to-mass-markets, anyway.) And that shit is HARD.
NaNoWriMo is great for three things, then:
1. Weeding out the weak and scared. “Writing a novel is hard.” Yes. Yes, it is. You want it? Then do it.
2. Therefore, making you get up and fucking DO it. Working under a deadline. How many people “have a great idea for a novel”? How many of those actually start writing, ever? How many finish? And how many finish in a reasonable span of time (less than, say, two years)? Traditional publishing is a long process, what with the finding of an agent, editing, selling to a house, editing, more editing, editing until you want to rip your face off and splash the meat below with aftershave, and finally finally FINALLY getting the damn thing to print. It’s easily a year, just for those bits. So add that to actually writing it?
3. Working under a deadline. Say you’ve found an agent, a publisher, all that wonderful stuff. They’re throwing money at you like Mardi Gras beads on naked chicks. Your editor says, “This is great, except I need you to rewrite it. By Thursday.” (I know someone who had to do this. She had two weeks, though.) Or maybe you want to submit a short story to an anthology, and you’ve got two days to cut seven thousand words. Or you’ve been published, your book is out there, and the sequel is due in six weeks, and gosh, you just don’t have anything to say. You’re not inspired. Guess what? No one cares. Shut up and write.
I love this shit. I think NaNoWriMo is one of the greatest things the internet’s got going. That being said, I kind of hate word-count-padders. If you wouldn’t put that kind of Thomas-Hardy-describing-the-heather exposition in a “real” novel, don’t put it in this one. Write a story, damn it. Shut up and write.
October 26, 2011 — 3:43 PM
Ann MG says:
What everybody else said + you’re around enough other writers who are actually writing that you can disabuse yourself about your writerly angst when things get hard. Most of that is because it’s hard to change any habit, not your Special Snowflakiness. Here are 19,000 other people hitting the wall on Day 9, so c’mon back for Day 10.
(I’m not doing NaNo this year because I’ve got drafts in need of revision from previous wins. Finish the shit, etc., etc.)
October 26, 2011 — 3:56 PM
Andrea Phillips says:
This will be my second year. I’m planning on going a little nontraditional this year, and writing a ChoiceScript game instead of flat fiction.
The last time, I started with a partial manuscript and just completed it. That novel is in the hands of my agent now and I should probably talk to him about it sometime soon, now that my other book is going to the editor. ^_^
I really love the drive and intensity of it, and the camaraderie. And the deadline. Totally worthwhile, even if you don’t do it the “right” way.
October 26, 2011 — 3:57 PM
Tracey Hansen says:
I really want 2 but I’m a procrastinator and don’t see myself squeezing out a novel at 11:58pm on Nov 31st. I might give it a go, what the hell.
October 26, 2011 — 4:29 PM
Chad Kallauner says:
@Tracey:
You mean Nov. 30th? Or is it a leap year? 🙂
October 26, 2011 — 4:58 PM
Gil says:
I personally am planning to at least give writing a novel a try. It took me a really long time to finish my last one, but I am planning to give this one even more effort.
October 26, 2011 — 5:22 PM
Doyce Testerman says:
@Chuck
I got word from my Agent that HarperCollins wanted to publish the book… the day after my son was born, so… late January of 2011. That was when contract negotiations started, which I had pretty much nothing to do with.
I just got word that the contract was finally signed by all related parties… about 20 minutes ago.
When that starts to seem like a long time, I remember that I wrote the first draft of that particular story in 2002.
So, if I’m VERY LUCKY, it’ll see print after a decade of me working on it to some degree or another.
October 26, 2011 — 5:36 PM
Rochelle Melander says:
Wow, I love all this writing energy. So amazed that many of you have written more than 50,000 words and have written fast outside of NaNo! I have done almost all of my books marathon style, including writing one in just 9 days (but I had a writing partner for that one, so I only had to do half of the words). In 2009, I wrote a nonfiction book on how to write books fast called, Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) (Writers Digest Books, 2011). Last year, I wrote a series of chapter books for kids which I plan to continue writing this year. Best advice: get as many words in as fast as you can. I like having words in the bank, so to speak, so I tend to write a bit extra every day. That way, I can take days off and often finish early. Also, I find that setting up little rewards for myself works well. So, I do not go on FB or Twitter until I get my work done each day. At every big mark (5,000, 10,000, etc), I give myself a bigger treat–like buying a song or going out for coffee or something fun! I will be blogging from now through the end this year (and hosting a bunch of great writers, too.) Feel free to stop by at writenowcoach.com
October 26, 2011 — 5:53 PM
Diana Moon says:
~Who out there is doing NaNoWriMo this year?
I am! Or at least I’m planning to, haha.
~Who’s done it before?
I’ve attempted it before.
~How did you prepare for it, and what happened to those novels that you completed?
Psyched myself up in the forums, tried to do as much research for my novel beforehand. However I kept preparing last minute and never felt I was ready to begin my novel… So I’d get a few days worth in throughout the month and then fail.
~What were your experiences?
Not bad. The forums are fun, talking with like minded people and learning.
~What are your thoughts?
It’s a great exercise and it offers a great goal even if not realistic for publishing purposes. I think it’s mostly about the community, connecting with others.
~Any wisdom to pass down to future participants?
Don’t get bogged down in the particulars of your story or series of stories if you’re going the short route. Just keep on writing and don’t get discouraged if you don’t meet the daily goal, as long as you write even just 10 words. It’s something.
~Like it? Love it? Hate it?
Love it.
October 26, 2011 — 6:52 PM
Chad Williamson says:
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year with the intent of actually completing it this year. Like most I’ve tried in the past and whatever I was writing just fizzled out. This year, I’m doing it, and I’m doing the dumbest thing possible: I’m writing the second novel in a series where I haven’t finished the first one. This said, I’ve got a decent outline, and a good base for once, so we’re gonna give it a go.
October 26, 2011 — 7:51 PM
Elizabeth Newlin says:
Doing it. Virgin. Scared to death. wrote it up today (saving all extraneous words for November): http://realestatetangent.com/national-novel-writing-and-peeing-my-pants-with-fear-month/
October 26, 2011 — 8:11 PM
oldestgenxer says:
I’m doing it–thanks to this site, or else I never would have heard of it. I’m trying to do some plotting and so forth now–that’s I’m I actually supposed to be doing *right* now, but this seemed so much more important.
I’m a little leery of the “support” I’m supposed to get from the site, and from the liaisons. I left a comment for mine on her website (not on the NaNo link, I know, so that may have been the problem),and not only did she not reply, but she deleted the comment. If I wanted rejection like that I would have stayed married.
I know they have some big writing parties planned at coffee shops and crap like that. Seriously, who writes in a group? Who writes in public? For fuck’s sake, writing is like masturbation. Do it alone. Don’t let anyone see you. Focus on the task at hand. Use your imagination. Fondle the balls. And don’t brag about it afterward.
October 26, 2011 — 9:14 PM
Julia Indigo says:
Nope, no can do. Nov sucks for me. That being said, I’m doing a wee bit of a nanowrimo… I’ve pledged to write every single day, no matter how little inspiration I feel.
October 26, 2011 — 9:47 PM
Corinne says:
It’s my first year officially doing NaNoWriMo. I’m preparing by cleaning the house, doing laundry, and buying extra underwear. I have a feeling housework will not be happening for the next month.
October 27, 2011 — 12:13 AM
mattw says:
I’m planning on doing NaNoWriMo. This will be my 5th year. I “won” the first three times, but decided to go at a slower pace with my project last year and didn’t complete it until much later. I’m thinking about going back to that project and doing a total rewrite for it as this year’s NaNo.
I’d attempted to do long form before my first NaNoWriMo, but I’d lose momentum and wouldn’t end up finishing. The deadline has helped me, and knowing that I have to get so many words in every day helps me make sure I’m setting aside time to get that word count in. It’s also helped to show me that I can create a story with a beginning, middle, and end, no matter how rough, in the long form.
I haven’t done much with previous NaNo novels. I’ve printed them all out and done a little revising, but haven’t gone and taken the time to really fix them, at least the one or two that are worth fixing.
October 27, 2011 — 11:13 AM
geraldine says:
I have been trying to join NaNoWrimo. And this time, I’m going to join. I think its fun. 🙂 Any month can be a NaNoWrimo but it is something sort of special. The goal is to have a novel at the end of the month. I don’t even know if I can achieve that. It doesn’t matter. I’m an amateur in the writing field. So I’m giving it a try.
October 27, 2011 — 8:15 PM
Nancy Lauzon says:
I’m doing it, first time. I have 50 pages done, need to get the first draft down. I’ve heard great things about NaNoWriMo, so no more excuses. I’m preparing by telling all my tweeples and blogger buddies that I’m going off the grid so they won’t worry where I’ve gone … although they probably wouldn’t worry anyways … and I’m buying lots of frozen dinners for the fam to eat while I’m writing. And chocolate, lots of chocolate. (Cracks knuckles). Wish me luck!
October 27, 2011 — 8:54 PM
Jude says:
This is my 2nd go, but now I know why I’m doing it. The first year’s NaNo spawned from a dream I had that wouldn’t let go. I got the 50k down, but the book wasn’t done. While writing sometime in January I realized I had written Book 2 of a trilogy.
This NaNo I will be working on Book 1, which already is outlined and has about 20k written on it. That’s against the ‘rules’, but I’m not doing it for them, I’m doing it for me. Nov. will be a great way to get a huge infusion into my story and also continue trying to get that daily writing habit ingrained into my blood. I have littles at home that like to sabotage every moment of free thought with “Hey Mom! I just counted 18 dots!”, “Hey Mom! I just took a breath!”, “Hey Mom! Wipe my butt!”.
October 27, 2011 — 9:58 PM
A. J. English says:
I have done it ONCE, two years ago, and created the most horrid aberration that a fifteen year old can possibly put into text. Needless to say, I’m hesitant to test the waters again, especially with the high-stress situation of senior year and portfolio construction…
October 28, 2011 — 1:53 AM
Sarah E Olson (@saraheolson) says:
I’ve done it twice, and won both years.
The first time was in 2008. I hadn’t written anything in 10 years (since college when I decided my instructors were right and I did suck at writing). I have no idea why I did NaNo…I guess I was just crazy. But – I won – and I felt pretty great about it. The novel was junk of course, but great practice.
I attempted it again last year, and won again, even with a 9-month-old vying for my attention. No idea how I did it. A lot more planning and preparation was involved, so I knew exactly what I was going to write. Also, I made a vow not to edit anything. It’s the only way to reach your word count goals. That novel is still a WIP. With a baby at home, I can’t wrap my head around editing a novel, so I’ve been focusing on short stories instead.
I’m not doing it this year. I may opt to do some variation on it with short stories instead…a short story a week or a flash a day…something to increase my motivation.
October 28, 2011 — 10:36 AM